I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to engines and compressors and, more particularly, to such an engine or compressor which utilizes a rotary piston member.
II. Description of the Prior Art
As used herein, the term "rotary device" shall collectively refer to engines and compressors. It will be understood by all skilled in the art that engines and compressors are analogous to each other and, oftentimes, a single device can be alternatively used as either an engine or a compressor.
There have been a number of previously known compressors and engines which employ a rotary piston in contrast to a reciprocal piston. A Wankel engine, for example, forms one type of previously known rotary piston engine.
These previously known rotary devices typically comprise a housing having a single internal chamber in which the rotary piston is positioned and rotatably mounted by a drive shaft to the housing. The rotary piston itself is triangular in shape thus having three outwardly protruding lobes. A seal member is then secured to the apex of each lobe and sealingly engages the walls of the chamber. Thus, upon rotation of the rotary piston, the rotary piston, sequentially inducts a fuel/air mixture into the chamber and compresses this fuel/air mixture in a reduced volume compression chamber formed between two lobes of the triangular piston and the walls of the chamber. This compressed fuel/air misture is then ignited and the resulting combustion rotatably drives the piston in the well known fashion.
One disadvantage of these previously known rotary piston engines, however, is that the piston apex seals are subject to rapid wear and tear due to their constant sliding engagement with the interior walls of the housing chamber. Replacement of the apex seals, when worn, requires almost complete disassembly of the engine and, therefore, is costly and time consuming to accomplish. At least partly for this reason, rotary piston engines have not enjoyed widespread acceptance or use.